The present invention generally relates to semiconductor integrated circuits, and more particularly, to the structure and formation of metal resistors with nitrogen content in the semiconductor integrated circuits.
An integrated circuit (IC) generally includes thin film (on the order of about 500 μm or less) resistors embedded in the back-end-of-the-line (BEOL) of the chip through either a damascene approach or a subtractive etch method. The resistor is one of the most common electrical components used in almost every electrical device. Efficiency of the resistor is primarily decided by its resistivity. Conventionally, doped polysilicon is used as the material of a resistor.